


Shadows

by AlliAnnLopes



Category: High School Story (Video Game), Hollywood U: Rising Star
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-02
Updated: 2015-06-02
Packaged: 2018-04-02 13:50:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4062340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlliAnnLopes/pseuds/AlliAnnLopes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The trials and tribulations of Hollywood's only hero - her 'spirit', if you will.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Follow Suit

No one understands what it's like to be the hero that no one gives a damn about.

In a world where Hollywood runs the superhero industry, we get a common misconception about superheroes: everyone except for the supervillains love them with the utmost devotion.

Sadly, that's not the case in real life. No one generally cares about a real superhero minus the occasional superfan wanting to get in a hero's pants for saving the day; and when they do, they're either admiring you from afar, wanting to kick your ass out of town, or in danger for knowing who you are.

Now, you may be asking yourself how exactly I know about all of this…

You might be surprised to know that I am that hero.

Well… not necessarily a **hero** … but something akin to it.

 

* * *

 

“Thomas!”

I hear my co-worker Priya Singh call my name from across her office. I snap out of my trance after I realize I’ve been staring out her ninth-story window into Hollywood’s boulevards.

“Are you even listening to me?” Priya asks, her voice sharp.

“Sorry,” I quickly reply, glancing at the files in my hands. “Run this whole thing by me just one more time, will you?”

Priya puts her head in her hands. “God, Thomas… sometimes you’re so hopeless… but because you’re the only person that I trust with this information, I’ll say this only one more time.” She lifts her head, pulling out some papers from her desk. “Apparently, several students at this university have the same anonymous donor for their tuition money…”

I raise an eyebrow. “That’s odd…”

“You think?” Priya snaps. “Not to mention there have been no traces of evidence as to where all of this money is coming from - no return address, no bank accounts… nothing.” She sighed. “Every single file in your hands is every student whose tuition has been paid for by this anonymous ‘benefactor’... I need you to get to the bottom of this, Thomas. You’re the only person that has enough resources to get this tracked.”

“Of course,” I reply with a nod. “You can count on-”

My phone buzzes in my pocket.

“Thomas…” Priya says, giving me a stern look.

I glance at the caller identification: Marianne Delacroix.

“Priya, I’m sorry,” I tell her, “but I really have to take this call. I promise I’ll-”

“Just go, Thomas...” Priya responds, shooing me away. “I know you’ll get to it...” She rolls her eyes as I grab my leather messenger bag. “Eventually…”

Without a moment to lose, I exit Priya’s office and answer Marianne’s call. “Yes, Marianne?”

Marianne sighs on the other end. “Finally,” she says. “What took you so long?”

I sigh. “Priya…”

“Again? What for this time?”

“Merely a student issue, Marianne. No need to worry.”

“Fine…” I hear a pen clicking on the other end. “Regardless, your suit’s fully repaired.”

I sigh in relief. “Excellent. Just in time for my nightwatch.” I start speeding up on the walk to my car. “I’ll be there in fifteen.”

 

* * *

 

“Professor! What a nice surprise!”

I see Addison Sinclair, one of my students, behind the receptionist’s desk at the Faux Pas Magazine office as usual.

“Good afternoon, Miss Sinclair,” I respond as I tuck the files Priya handed me earlier into my messenger bag. “I’m Madame Delacroix’s four o’clock appointment.”

Addison nods, buzzing me into Marianne’s office as I open the door.

Marianne is sitting at her desk, her heels on the dark mahogany wood as she holds a cigarette in one hand and an apple martini in the other. “You’re late.”

I roll my eyes. “Only by two minutes, Marianne,” I reply.

“Well, you know how I am about being on time to my appointments…”

Pulling an envelope out of my pocket, I slide it across the table. “I tossed in an extra hundred dollars as a late fee. Happy?”

Marianne laughs. “Well played, Thomas. You’re smarter than Priya makes you out to be.”

I sigh, sitting down across from her. “So, what exactly was wrong with the suit?”

“There were quite a few rips in the thigh and abdominal areas because of that stabbing that almost got you killed…”

Some memories of that night a week ago infiltrate my mind. “Right…”

Marianne flicks out her cigarette. “Other than that, just usual wear and tear. Nothing too dramatic.”

I quietly sigh again. “Is it ready to go now?”

“Yes, Thomas. It’s in the safe room; just leave out the back when you’re done.”

“Excellent.” I stand up quickly as I head for the door to the safe room all the way on the other side of her office.

“Oh, and by the way… Detective Mohsenin called saying to be at the station early tonight.”

I nod, not turning around. “Will do.”

Without another word to her, I open the door.

The safe room is a pretty small place, so it’s not hard to find what I’m looking for: a small black suitcase with a red scar-like streak through it. I grab it by the handle and make my way out without a trace.

I stash the suitcase in the back seat of my car, making my way in no time flat back to the garage next to my apartment complex. I pull into the private parking zone - a very secluded part of the garage that’s walled off and has been abandoned for years. I honk once as I pull into the spot marked with red asphalt paint, and the platform sinks into the floor, sending me down several stories before it eventually stops. The dim lights in the area around me brighten to reveal my lair, my assistant Diego looking up from a newspaper.

“Looks like you’ve made a headline, Thomas!” Diego tells me, showing me the newspaper: **‘WHO IS THE SPIRIT?: Daring Vigilante or Public Nuisance?’**

“Put it in my ‘neutral’ press pile,” I say in response as I head into a room to change.

The suitcase feels cool to the touch as I punch in the security code to open it up, pulling out the face mask before I put anything else on. I slowly take my street clothes off and put on the other items in the suitcase one by one: a muscle shirt, a form-fitting black-and-grey camouflage jumpsuit, black dress shoes, a red tie, a black panama hat, a pair of black gloves, and a long black trench coat.

“How do I look, Diego?” I ask as soon as I re-enter the room.

Diego smiles. “Sharp as always. Leaving early tonight?”

I nod. “Ed wants me in early tonight. Must be pretty important because he never calls me in early like this.”

“Yeah, it’s gotta be.” He pats me on the shoulder, gesturing to me to give him my regular car keys.

“Oh, right.” I hand him my keys as we re-enter the car, Diego sitting in the driver’s seat as I sit in the front passenger’s seat. “You gonna be alright after last week?”

Diego nods. “You mean working at Blitz tonight? Yeah, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me, Thomas. Worry about Hollywood - she really needs you tonight.”

I nod as I put in my ear piece. “Of course she does... She always needs me.”

My phone buzzes in my pocket again, and I pull it out to read the caller ID: Chris Winters.

“Excuse me, Diego,” I say gruffly just before I press ‘answer’. “Hey, Chris.”

“Hey yourself, Thomas,” Chris replies. “Listen, I was wondering something… Do you want to maybe meet me for coffee tomorrow? Say, noon at the Starbucks on Rodeo Drive? It’s been way too long since we last talked.”

I’m beside myself. “Yeah, almost a month, if I remember correctly.”

“So, what do you say, Thomas?”

A smile comes to my face. “Chris, I’d love to.”

“Great! I’ll see you then. Have a good one.”

My smile brightens. “You too, Chris.” I hang up.

Diego gives me a certain look. “Is it just me, or does Winters have a thing for you?”

I shake my head, feeling my cheeks warm up. “He most certainly doesn’t have a ‘thing’ for me…”

A chuckle comes from Diego. “Oh, but **you** like **him** , don’t you?”

“Shut up, Diego...”

“You like Chris Winters!”

“Diego-”

“I can’t believe I never noticed before! The way you talk about him and shit, I don’t know how I-”

“God damn it, Diego, you’re gonna miss the turn!”

Diego focuses his eyes on the road, realizing the station’s front parking lot was yards away. “Oh shit!” He quickly makes the turn just before he misses it.

I sigh. “Be more careful.”

“Sorry, I will.” He puts the car in park. “Here you are, Mr. ‘Spirit’. Keep me updated, will ya?”

Quickly, I exit the car. “Yeah, just go before you’re late.”

Diego gives a salute. “See ya later!” In mere seconds, he’s off and out of sight.

I realize something very quickly: tonight is going to be a **long** night.


	2. Just Like Any Other Night

“You wanted to see me, Ed?”

Detective Ed Mohsenin is sitting behind his desk, reading a copy of the same newspaper Diego was reading earlier. “Ah, you made it earlier.”

I nod. “By an hour. What’s going on?”

Ed sets down the newspaper on his desk and grabs his coffee, the smell of which completely fills the room. “Just wanted to make sure you were alright after that stabbing last week.”

“Yeah, I’m fine, Ed. I’ve been better, of course... but I’m fine.” I sigh. “You wanted me to tell me something?”

“Oh right.” Ed grabs a stack of files and slides them over to me. “You may need these.”

I raise an eyebrow. “What for?”

Ed sighs. “Let’s just say Priya told me about your little ‘mission’ for the university.”

 _Of course she did_ , I think to myself.

“These are all of those students’ legal papers,” Ed continues. “Funny thing about ‘em: every single record is clean. No registered criminal activity from any single one of them.”

I take the papers from Ed, stashing them in my messenger bag. “That’s unusual…” I sigh. “I’m leaving this here as per usual.”

Ed nods. “Of course.” He takes my bag and stashes it underneath his desk. “I’ll gladly make you digital copies of these files to look at on your patrol.”

“Fantastic! Thank you, Ed.”

“No problem.” Ed gives me a smile. “Now, get out there, Thomas - ahem, ‘Spirit’.”

I smile softly, pulling my grappling hook out of my trench and pulling the trigger so it launches and hooks onto the open sunroof. “See you later, Ed.”

Ed gives me a salute as I go flying up to the roof, closing the sunroof underneath me.

And now starts my journey into the night.

I take a deep breath, tapping into the police radio with my Bluetooth headset as I put my grappling hook back in my trench coat.

Once I’m all tapped in, I go off running to the other side of the station’s roof, making the jump to the next building’s fire escape with ease. I rush up the full set of stairs as I hover my hand over my twenty-two caliber handgun inside my coat.

Eventually, I make it to my usual Friday night hideaway where I usually lurk: the radio tower. It’s not long before something happens.

“I’ve been watching you, Spirit...” a voice calls in over my headset.

Confused, I hold down the call button to reply. “Excuse me?”

The voice lets out a breath. “Boy, you don’t know how to handle a fan of yours, do you…?”

I sigh. “Well, if you intend to try to seduce me, I’ll save you the trouble; it just simply won’t work, my friend.”

“Oh no, nothing like that. Quite on the contrary, actually. I highly admire your vigilante work.”

“...Who is this?”

The voice chuckles. “Believe me when I say that all I want is to just join you in your quest to keep Hollywood safe from the hands of evil.”

I sigh again. “Hardly an easy task.”

“Oh, I understand that completely… but I want to help you, Spirit. I honestly do.”

“How do I know that you actually want to help me?”

The voice chuckles sincerely. “That’s quite simple, Spirit. If you decide to meet me somewhere - say, the old drive-in movie theater, for example - you and I will openly reveal our identities to each other. No tricks, no gimmicks, none of that shit.” The voice takes a deep breath. “I’ll even watch over your patrol with you tonight and help you out when I can.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Again, how do I know I can trust you?”

“Oh, that answer is simple too - you already know who I am.”

Gears turning in my head, I try to decipher the owner of the voice because he’s right - I **do** know his voice from somewhere.

“You have until sunrise to meet me at the old drive-in movie theater,” the voice continues. “It’s either that, or I become your rival. And you don’t want that... do you, Spirit…?”

I gulp. Of course I don’t. That’s one less person I have to mess with if I take this deal. “Fine, I’m on my way there now. Duty may end up calling, however; so if I’m late, that’s why.”

“Perfect. I’ll see you then, Spirit.”

Knowing exactly what I had to do, I started off toward the drive-in.

 

* * *

 

About halfway to the drive-in, I have to take a short rest on top of an office building right across from Freddy’s. It’s almost midnight, and things have been too quiet to not have something happen eventually.

I look down to see one of the newest young actresses to Hollywood’s social scene amid her transition from Broadway - eighteen-year-old Astoria Morgan. She's heading towards the end of the street after she exits Freddy’s when somebody boldly snatches her purse.

A loud, shrill laugh echoes loudly in the wind as a group of four surround Astoria.

That can only mean one thing: Banshee and her gang of cronies.

It’s go time.

Quickly, I have to make my presence known with a smoke bomb, sending it into the middle of the street just before I alter my voice. **_“Going back to petty crimes, are we, Banshee?”_**

Banshee growls. “How do you manage to find me every time, you pest?”

**_“This city - she speaks to me.”_ **

“Not that shit again…”

I chuckle. **_“Fine. Let’s just get to the part where I serve justice.”_**

Banshee curls her hand into a fist. “Not if I have anything to say about it. Wi-Fire! Take him out!”

Wi-Fire nods, pulling an electronic destabilizer out. The force field quickly spreads.

”No more precious technology for you, Spirit,” Wi-Fire cackles, checking her reflection in her French-manicured nails.

I raise an eyebrow. **_“I don’t need it.”_** I rush her, quickly making her run away and taking the electronics destabilizer with her, the force field dissipating. I laugh. **_“Pathetic.”_**

Suddenly, I get blasted with heat and stumble to my knees.

“Can’t take the heat of Solar Flare?” I hear a male voice ask from behind me.

“That was bad,” Banshee replies to him, “even for you.”

I groan. **_“For once, I have to agree with her,”_** I respond before I grab his hand and hurl him into the construction zone at the other end of the small street.

“Ack! My pores!” Solar Flare cried out.

Just after shaking my head at the idiocy, I feel a sharp stiletto heel kick into my back.

“That’s it, Lynx!” Banshee cheers with a shrill laugh. “Get him again like you did last week!”

I take a deep breath as I skid somewhat on the asphalt, my arms starting to get a burning sensation in them.

Lynx - formally Lethal Lynx - flips me over, a knife in her hands as she’s about to stab me. Just before the knife makes contact with my rib, she stops and looks me dead in the eye with fright as - so it seems - pieces start to make sense in her head.

“Banshee, I can’t do it,” Lynx tells her boss.

“What?!” Banshee yells out. “Why not?”

Lynx stands up, putting her knife back in hr satchel. “I just can’t, okay?” She starts to walk away. “I’m done here.”

Banshee growls in aggravation. “You can’t pussy out on me now! We just had him!”

“You mean **I** just had him. You never lift a finger and do your own dirty work, and I’ve had it!” Lynx slowly lets her hair down. “I’m not fucking playing this game with you anymore. Count me out.” She walks off into the night.

I turn to Banshee, who’s still holding onto Astoria’s purse, and hold out my hand to gesture her to give it back. **_“Are we done here, Banshee? Or are you just going to bitch some more?”_**

Banshee lets out a defeated sigh. “Whatever.” She tosses the purse on the ground. “This isn’t over, Spirit.” She groans and walks off into the night as well.

Grabbing Astoria’s purse off of the asphalt, I hand it back to her.

Astoria smiles gratefully and hugs me. “Thank you, sir.”

I smile softly back at her. **_“No need to thank me. It’s all in a night’s work, Miss Morgan.”_**

She pulls away, clutching her purse tightly.

**_“Now, if I may ask… Where were you off to, Miss Morgan?”_ **

Astoria tucks her purse under her arm. “I-I was headed to the old drive-in movie theater. I arranged for my friend Tyler to pick me up there since he doesn’t know his way around here very well.”

I nod, relieved that I won’t have to waste any more time unless duty calls again. **_“Would you like me to walk with you there?”_**

Nodding, she leans her head on my arm as rain starts to fall on the both of us. “I-If you wouldn’t mind…”

Pulling off my trench coat after transferring everything onto my person instead, I drape it over Astoria’s shoulders as we start to walk.

Things are quiet for a few minutes before Astoria finally speaks, latching onto my arm. “You seem to care an awful lot about Hollywood, don’t you?”

I nod. **_“I’m her protector, Miss Morgan. Someone has to stop all of the dirty deeds and resolve all of the strange happenings that occur here, and so far the only person to do anything about it has been me.”_**

Astoria grasps my arm tighter. “Speaking of strange happenings… there’s something you should know.”

Now that my interest is captured, I raise an eyebrow. **_“Go on, Miss Morgan.”_**

She takes a deep breath before speaking again, softer than before. “There’s something peculiar about my stay at Hollywood University… When I recently went to the admissions office to pay my bill for my classes, the receptionist had said that I was already paid for before classes began. She wouldn’t tell me who paid for me, only saying to me that it was paid for by a ‘generous benefactor’. They had no record at all of where the money came from when I asked, but no one questioned it.” She looks up at me finally. “Doesn’t that sound strange to you?”

I nod, silently pleased upon hearing the connection. **_“You’re right. That is quite odd…”_**

Astoria looks straight ahead as we approach the drive-in, a car parked just outside the ticket booth. “Can you try to look into it? I don’t want illegal money paying for my tuition.”

Suddenly, I get the feeling that this isn’t the last I’ll see of this poor, innocent girl. **_“For you, Miss Morgan, I will try my best.”_**

Leaning on her toes, Astoria kisses me on the cheek. “Thank you, Mr. Spirit.” She slowly hands me back my trench coat. “I hope our paths cross again soon.” She walks off to her friend’s car, getting in the front passenger’s seat and giving me a wave before her friend drives off.

Now that they’re gone, I slowly enter the gates of the drive-in movie theater, putting my coat back on as rain starts to torrent. Almost immediately, I hear a car beep and see a pair of headlights by the concessions building.

As I get closer, I realize the car is a Porsche - a very familiar looking one at that. I raise an eyebrow.

 _This has to be some sort of trick,_ I think.

Once I eventually reach the Porsche, I see someone in the driver’s seat motioning for me to enter it.

Giving a short nod of the head, I open the front passenger’s side of the car and sit down, closing the door behind me.

“I’m glad you decided to take my offer, Spirit,” the costumed man in the driver’s seat says to me.

 ** _“Well, it was quite an offer,”_** I reply, **_“one that I couldn’t really refuse…”_** I sigh. **_“Now, are you going to tell me who you are or not?”_**

The man chuckled. “Of course. However, I want to see who you are first. I have a hunch, but this is simply just confirmation.”

I groan in aggravation. **_“Fine.”_** I slowly take off my hat and untie my mask off of my face, placing them both on the dashboard and turning to face him, letting my voice go back to normal. “Am I who you thought I was?”

Smiling, the man chuckles. “You’re exactly who I thought you were, Professor.”

Raising an eyebrow, I give him a look. “You’re… You’re one of my students, aren’t you…?”

The young man smiles, going for his navy blue mask to untie it. “See for yourself.” He turns away from me, fully untying and tossing his ask onto the dashboard as well before he quickly turns back to me, revealing…

“Ethan Blake?”


	3. We are Wild

“Ethan Blake?”

I can’t believe it - one of my own students managed to smooth talk me into a) giving them my identity, and b) having them join me on this whole escapade in the first place.

A cocky smirk spreads on Ethan’s lips. “The one and only.”

Chuckling, I put my hat back on my head and my mask back on my face. “No wonder you’re a fucking agent.”

Ethan laughs, putting his own mask back on his face. “Surprised?”

I nod. “Hell yeah. You had me pretty good…” I chuckle again, fixing my gloves. “It’s no wonder that I trusted you so quickly.”

Putting his keys in the ignition, Ethan gives me another smirk. “You trusted your gut. In this game, you have to learn to do that or you might never get anywhere.”

“You got that right.” I lean back in the seat. “So, are we leaving here or what? I’ll admit: I’m curious as hell to see what you can offer me with your help.”

Ethan turns on the radio at a soft volume. “Yeah, let’s get out of here.”

**Rising up, back on the street-**

“Oh no,” I immediately say. “This is not turning into a cliché spoof of _Rocky_.” I quickly reach for the radio dial.

Ethan chuckles again. “Alright, alright.”

I quickly spin the radio dial a centimeter clockwise.

**I got this feelin’ on a summer day when you were gone-**

“Oh **fuck** no.”

Ethan laughs harder.

I turn the dial again a smidge.

**Skin head, dead head  
Everybody gone bad-**

“Ah, much better,” I say with a content sigh.

Ethan smiles as he puts the car in drive and starts moving forward. “Well, damn, Professor… I never knew you were into MJ.” He chuckles. “I kinda just imagined all you ever listened to was movie scores and classical music.”

I let out a breathy chuckle. “There’s a lot that you don’t know about me, Ethan.”

“Oh? Care to enlighten me on that, Professor?”

“There’s a lot musically that you don’t know about me.” I gesture to the radio. “Go ahead and turn the dial. I’ll bet you any money that I know every song that comes on.”

Ethan grins. “Oh, you’re on!”

I sigh. “Please be careful doing this while you drive…”

“Oh, I will. I do this all the time.” He puts his hand on the dial as the other stays on the wheel and turns them both in sync and in opposite directions.

****You triflin’, good for nothin’ type of brother-****

I start singing along.

Ethan shakes his head at me. “Too easy, Professor.” He turns the dial again.

**Don’t you worry, don’t you worry, child-**

“See, Heaven’s got a plan for you,” I sing the next line.

Ethan mock-scoffs at me. “Beginner’s luck.” Another dial turn.

**Just a small town girl-**

“Haha, fuck you, don’t make me sing this,” I say with a barely containable chuckle.

Ethan laughs so hard that he leans his head on the top of the steering wheel. “Okay, okay, you get a pass this time.” He turns the dial again as he lifts his head up from the wheel.

**Doo, doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-**

I sigh. “Oh God, this fucking song…”

“Come on, Professor,” Ethan taunts me. “You know you want to sing it.”

“Buzz off.”

“You know it’s true, though.”

I sigh again. “The sad part is, we’ll both be singing along to this in a matter of seconds.”

Ethan chuckles nervously in response. “Yeah… Let’s prevent that from happening, shall we?” He turns the dial one last time.

**La-dum-dah-dah, la-dah-dum-dah-dah  
La-dah-dum-dah-dum-dah-dah**

I smile, singing the first section of lyrics.

**When Rome's in ruins**   
**We are the lions**   
**Free of the coliseums**

Ethan smirks, tapping his hands on the steering wheel and taking over as he drives.

**In poisoned places**   
**We are anti-venom**   
**We're the beginning of the end**

I join him for the next section.

**Tonight**   
**The foxes hunt the hounds**   
**And it's all over now**   
**Before it has begun**   
**We've already won**

**We are wild**   
**We are like young volcanoes**   
**We are wild**   
**Americana, exotica**   
**Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby? Yeah**

Ethan looks to me. “Well, I’ll be damned. You’re better at this than I expected.”

I chuckle. “You’re not half bad yourself, Blake.”

Smirking at me, Ethan sang the next full verse as he drove onto a back road.

**Come on, make it easy**   
**Say I never mattered**   
**Run it up the flagpole**

**We will teach you**   
**How to make boys next door**   
**Out of assholes**

We both exchange looks and laugh before I start singing along again.

**Tonight**   
**The foxes hunt the hounds**   
**And it's all over now**   
**Before it has begun**

Ethan suddenly joins in again.

**We've already won**

**We are wild  
We are like young volcanoes  
We are wild**  
**Americana, exotica**  
**Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby? Yeah**

I shake my head as I give Ethan a grin. “You know, I could get used to you and me being a team.”

Ethan chuckles as we start trekking up a hill in his Porsche. “So could I.”

Once the vocals come back, we finish out the song.

 **We are wild**  
**We are like young volcanoes**  
**We are wild  
Americana exotica**  
**Do you wanna feel a little beautiful baby? Yeah**

I turn down the radio. “Okay, that’s enough of that.” I look around as Ethan puts the car in park. “Where did you decide to take me, anyway?”

Ethan smiles. “Behind the Hollywood sign. When I actually **get** a break from arranging things for Danny - and **trust** me, he takes up a lot of my time - I come up here to get away.”

Raising an eyebrow as we exit the car, I take a deep breath at the mention of Danny's name, memories quickly coming back to me. "How is he, anyway...?"

"Danny's fine, Professor. Why do you-" Ethan sighs. "Oh, right... You two used to be a thing..."

I sigh, sitting on the hood of Ethan's Porsche. "Sorry I-"

"No, it's okay. Let's just... talk about this after I show you what I have to offer to help you, alright?"

"Sure." I give him a soft smile. "So, I guess I should start by asking what the name of your identity will be."

Ethan smirks, pulling something out of his trunk - a hover board. "That's an easy answer: Thunderbird."

I raise an eyebrow.

"You remember Static Shock?" Ethan asks.

Nodding, I adjust myself so that I'm not sitting on one of Ethan's headlights.

Ethan turns on the hover board, standing on it. "Basically anything on his power list is on mine."

I smile, satisfied. "Go ahead, Blake. Blow me away."

A laugh comes out of Ethan's mouth.

"Don't over-analyze that order, Ethan..."

Ethan slowly floats a little higher off the ground, letting currents spark from his glove-covered hands. "Yeah, yeah..." He holds his hands flat out in front of him as a surge of electricity zips out and hits a tree, knocking it over and almost into the 'H' of the Hollywood sign.

"I think that will do for now," I tell him.

Turning off his hover board and floating back down, Ethan gives me a smirk. "Satisfied?"

"With that little display, yes." I sigh. "Now comes the harder part... We have to talk about Danny."

Ethan sighs. "Right... Let's just get in the back of my car so we don't get cold."

I nod slightly, getting off of the hood of the Porsche and entering the back of it. I realize it's emptier than I thought it would be.

"So..." Ethan says as he lets out a sigh. "How have you been handling... well, you know..."

"To be completely honest..." I let out, "I feel like crap." I lay down on a pair of the seats and take a deep breath.

Ethan sits down in front of my legs. "I'm sorry, Professor."

I sigh. "I really thought that with that one night that the three of us were together... that maybe the three of us would stand a chance in a legitimate group relationship."

Surprised, Ethan looks at me with a hint of confusion. "You... wanted the three of us to be an item?"

"Yes, but you know Danny. The second he has his heart set on something..." I sigh again. "There's no turning back for him."

Ethan rubs my side. "Yeah... He cares about you a lot, Professor. Believe me - he always wonders how you're doing. He wants you to be happy, and he just... He didn't think that either of us - or both of us - would be able to make you truly happy."

I close my eyes, fighting off the small set of tears that threaten to fall. "I need to be honest with you, Ethan... That night, when the three of us were together... I felt something... click between us." I sigh again. "It wasn't sexual or romantic, I know that for sure. I don't know **what** exactly I felt... but I felt **something** between us."

Taking off his mask, Ethan slowly starts discarding items off of his person. "I... I felt it too." He sighs, scooting closer to my upper body. "I thought about what it could be for a while, and I honestly came to one conclusion... You trust me with him." He sat in front of me, his blue-gray eyes looking into mine. "It could have only been a newfound trust and respect that we felt for each other, Professor."

"You're probably right," I respond. "However... that didn't stop me from feeling one fleeting urge that night..." I blush slightly. "Nothing forbidden, just... the faintest urge to kiss you."

Ethan quickly follows suit with the blushing, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Is it...-"

"It's only curiosity, Ethan. I can completely assure you of that."

"Likewise here." Ethan sighs, pulling himself closer to me and blushing again. "We can just... kill that curiosity inside both of us right now, if you want..."

Closing my eyes, I hesitate to open my mouth and answer him. After a minute, I respond. "Only this once because all that's happening here is curiosity. This is **not** to be spoken of, alright?"

Ethan nods nervously and places his hand on my shoulder.

I sigh. "I know that you're anxious, Ethan. Believe me - so am I." I look right into his eyes. "...but you can trust me and know that I won't tell anyone." I close my eyes. "Please trust me. It'll be okay, I promise."

Taking a deep breath, Ethan slowly wraps an arm around my chest and places his lips gently on mine.

His lips are softer than I thought they'd be, catching me slightly off guard. I feel Ethan climb on top of me, his lips still on mine as he lays a hand flat on my chest. Neither of us do anything to make it heated to any degree because we both know that any passion should be saved for our actual lovers and not someone of here-today-gone-tomorrow fantasies.

I feel Ethan pull away gently, not opening my eyes because I'm afraid of his reaction.

"Open your eyes," Ethan says softly, rubbing my shoulder as he keeps his other hand on my chest.

Doing as he tells me, I open my eyes slowly.

Ethan has a warm smile on his face, and I can't help but smile softly back at him. "That was... nice, actually."

I nod in agreement. "Yeah, it was..." I could tell my brain was starting to shut down on me from lack of sleep. "I... I wouldn't mind if we did this again when the opportunity presented itself." I sigh. "I care about both you and Danny a lot, Ethan... and I know that the two of you will be very happy together. But, if either of you - or both of you - get lonely by yourselves... I'm always here for both of you. There's always a place in my heart for both of you."

His smile brightens as he pecks me gently on the lips. "Thank you, Professor. That means a lot coming from you." He sighs. "But we just want you to be happy. We want you to find somebody that will always be there for you. I understand the sentiment, but you deserve someone for yourself. Promise me that you won't give up on finding that person, okay?"

Slowly, I nod in reply. I take a deep breath. "Can you pick up my bag from the station in costume and then bring me back to my apartment?"

Ethan nods with a soft smile. "Yeah, sure. You do seem pretty beat... Just relax, alright? I'll get you home."

I nod again, turning to face the back of the car seat as Ethan hops to the driver's seat.

The next half an hour or so passes by in a blur, and the next thing I know, Ethan has already pulled into the garage and into the private area.

"Hey there..." Diego greets us softly, turning his attention to Ethan as the car door stays open. "Who are-"

"Diego, it's me, Ethan," the agent quickly responds. "I'm just here to drop Thomas off so he can sleep. It's been a very long night for the both of us."

"Oh! Sorry 'bout that, E-man. Just... Let me help you get him upstairs."

Soon enough, I feel Diego hold up my legs as Ethan carries me by my shoulders. They take me up to my room, plopping me down on my bed.

"I'll give you two a minute," Diego says quickly, exiting the bedroom.

Ethan turns to me. "I'll start meeting you up at night upon your request, okay?" He took a long deep breath. "Say... starting Monday?"

"Works for me..." I reply drowsily. "Diego will give you both of our cell phone numbers on your way out." I smile softly. "Text me at a moment of your free time, okay?"

"Yeah, of course."

I feel my eyes start to get heavy. "Now get your sidekick ass out of my apartment, Blake. Or I'll have Diego kick you out."

Ethan chuckles, clapping me on the shoulder. "You don't have to tell me twice." He heads for the door. "See you Monday, Professor."

Smiling slightly, I nod before I hear Ethan close the door to my bedroom, and I soon drift off to sleep.


End file.
